Head Coach Brian Daboll
Opening Statement:
"Competitive game. Disappointed in the outcome. I was proud of the way the guys competed. I thought the quarterback played well. There was a play here or there that we came up short on and that's the outcome of the game. I thought there were improvements made. Checking on the offensive side of the ball. Red zone, third down, efficient running game, efficient passing game. We went for it there at the end of the game. Thought our chances were good throwing it to Malik [Nabers] with Daniel [Jones] the way we were playing. Better than making a 40 yard or 39 yard field goal, so that it was I decided to do."
On only having one kicker active today:
"We thought Graham [Gano] would be okay. He got hurt chasing down a [runner]. It was a hamstring. He didn't hurt his groin. He hurt his hamstring."
On if he is saying you can't hurt your hamstring while running while favoring your groin:
"I'm not a doctor."
On knowing the risk of Gano getting re-injured:
"I mean anybody could get injured. He was chasing the kickoff return, he pulled his hamstring. I'm not making excuses."
On whose decision it was to not activate another kicker:
"We thought he [Graham Gano] was good. We thought he was good. All the decisions that are made are mine."
On his past decisions to use P Jamie Gillan to kick field goals and extra points and on why he didn't today:
"He missed the first one and we thought our chances were better going for it or going for two as the game went on. And how we were playing offensively, I felt good about our plays. We had one to Slay [Darius Slayton], we had an opportunity there. A two-point. We had another one with [Tyrone] Tracy that ended up covering the scramble. And then I went for it on fourth-and-three. It was fourth-and-three right at the end to [Malik] Nabers. A little undergo and we just didn't finish it off.
On the goal of the first kickoff:
"I'm not going to get into strategy but again, I feel bad for Graham, I feel bad for us. There are no excuses. We had our opportunities."
On Gano's condition during warmups and on not using Gillan for the kickoff:
"Yeah. Again, we talked about a lot of things. We thought he'd be good to go. We talked to him. Talked to the trainers and again, I can't tell you he's going to get hurt chasing down a 100-yard kickoff return that was called back."
On a player's risk of injury when dealing with soft tissue injury:
"I'd say I'm not a doctor."
On if he talks to SVP and GM Joe Schoen about the roster moves the team makes:
"It's collective."
On considering kicking instead of the two-point conversion to Darius Slayton:
"We had an opportunity on it to make. I felt comfortable with what we did."
On whether or not Gillan missing the first extra point had anything to do with the decision:
"No, we had discussions down there. I just figured look, we had some two-point plays that we liked. Thought we'd be okay with going, which we did and didn't end up making the plays."
On if there was a yard marker that they had if they had gotten to at the end where he would have attempted a kick:
"At the end? Yeah."
On how seriously he thought about elevating K Jude McAtamney:
"I'm not going to get into the discussions that we had. Again, we thought Graham was good. I think he would've been good if he didn't pull his hamstring."
On Shane Bowen's rushing defense performance:
"Yeah, they rushed the ball well. They were efficient in the passing game. We had them in a lot of third-and-longs that we stopped them on. We did play a good red zone defense which was held up but certainly areas that we gotta be better at. They were rushing to the ball. They were efficient and we had them in some long yards. I think we had five sacks. We had some long yards that they capitalized on."
On their strategy for defending QB Jayden Daniels running game:
"Yeah, a couple of them we had spies on him."
On what he will say to WR Malik Nabers after dropping the pass at the end:
"Keep your head up. Keep your head up."
On what he thought of Nabers overall:
"I thought he played well. I thought Daniel played well. I thought the line played well. I thought we ran hard. I thought we were efficient. [WR] Wan'Dale [Robinson] made a nice play there in the end zone when we needed him to. [WR Darius] Slayton had his opportunities. Nabers – it was a bunch of one-on-one coverage and they started running split safeties. So with them playing split safeties, we ran the ball some. Post-high, we threw it to him. What did he have 18 targets? 10 catches. The last one, he is as competitive as can be. I appreciate how competitive he is and how much he cares."
On if he is comfortable with 18 targets for one player:
"Yep."
On worrying about his job security if results don't change:
"I've done this for a long time. My focus is on our football team."
On if he would've made a different decision about kicker looking back:
"Knowing that he was going to get hurt on the first kickoff, yes certainly. On a pulled hamstring, yeah. Any player gets hurt at a certain position. The quarterback gets hurt, I mean, whatever it may be so certainly. I mean he got hurt, so that's too bad."
On why he didn't take extra precautions knowing Gano wasn't at 100 percent:
"Again, we felt okay with the decision that we made. Obviously, it didn't pan out because he pulled his hamstring."
On how the offense can build along with the defense:
"I think it's complementary football, so it's the entire units working together. Obviously, we have to do a better job on third downs. I think we were four-of-eight, 50% on third down which I know is a good improvement but they were 7-of-14, 50% on 3rd down. They were 0-6 in the red zone. We were 3-3. Turnover again. I talked about it again last night. That turnover was critical coming out of the half. We had that drive going and we didn't create any so that was a loss in the turnover ratio, which I said during the press conference on Thursday. It was 10 and one last week so we have to work on some things. Some things we improved on and we'll continue to do that."
On how he felt Jones improved:
"He went where he was supposed to go with the football. He saw the field well. Threw it to the guy he was supposed to throw it to. Gave them chances. We had chances on other plays too that we didn't connect on. I was proud of him. I was proud of the way he competed. I was proud of the way he prepared during the week and I was proud of his mental toughness. I thought he did a nice job."
Quarterback Daniel Jones
On how things went today:
"We did some good things and we did some bad. It was a ball control game, and we needed to find a way to make some big plays. We all know that, but didn't get the job done. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and get the job done."
On the fact you didn't have a healthy kicker:
"Yeah, I don't think we are going to make excuses. There were numerous things we could have done better and needed to work on, but we are not going to make excuses. There are things we'll work on and fix going forward, and that's what I'm focused on."
On the ESPN report that came out today said that you have an injury guarantee in your contract for next season:
"To be honest, this is the first I've heard about the report and I'll let the team handle that. I don't concern myself with what comes out and will leave that up to the team to handle. My job is to play good football and help us come out with a win."
On it being four down territory late in the game:
"I didn't do anything different than I normally do. Dabs [Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll] told me what he wanted, and like always I followed the plan. We went down and managed it like we had to. We'll go back and look at what we could have done better and go from there. Obviously, we didn't have a kicker and that affects how we play, but again we are not going to make excuses. We need to find ways to make plays"
On if he thought the team should have tried to kick a field goal late in the game in certain situations:
"I think that's a question for Dabs. He told me how to handle the situation and any speculation is strictly hypothetical. I'm not here to second guess the coaching staff. I'm here to help us win games."
Wide Receiver Malik Nabers
On the up and down emotions he felt throughout the game:
"I mean, there's really not no up and down. It's really just, I don't know. It's really just going back in my head and seeing how could I have done it different with the mistakes I made and hoping to get it back, but I know I couldn't. I know that I can't get that play back. [I] just got to move on."
On if his fourth down drop at the end of the game was a pass he thinks he should catch every time:
"I mean, obviously. They're high on me. They're passing me the ball. They know I can make plays, I'm sure. Out of a thousand times they're going to continue to call that play and go at me on fourth down again. So, obviously I want to make that play."
On how he is feeling right now:
"I'm disappointed. I mean, no matter how good of a game you can play, that last play came down to me. I'm just, I'm hurt that I let those veterans down. I mean, they know what kind of player I am. [DT] Dex [Lawrence], [DE Brian] Burns, [LB] Isaiah [Simmons], I know what kind of confidence they got in me. So just letting those guys down. It's just, I don't want to never let my team down. That's the main motto that's in my head: Don't let my team down. I let my team down."
Running Back Devin Singletary
On how he weighs his frustration after a close loss:
"Just got to use it as fuel. That's really what it comes down to. You know, we're really close. [We're] heading in the direction we want to go in. Today wasn't the outcome that we wanted, but we've just got to use it as fuel."
On what went right today that they can carry into future games:
"Yeah, man, the big guys just getting movement. Big guys got the receivers getting in, the tight ends getting in on it. We can definitely build off of that."
On what exactly happened when he fumbled:
"Yeah, I felt him. I tried to [inaudible] in trouble, but I had it in my inside arm. You know, he got me. Can't have it. [If] you want to win the game, you've got to win the turnover battle."
Inside Linebacker Bobby Okereke
On how much Washington Commanders QB Jaden Daniels' running ability played into Washington Commanders RB Brian Robinson's good performance:
"Yeah, I mean, he's a good back. He's a physical back; that's what he prides himself on. I think we just didn't do a great job with our fundamentals and techniques and just playing very disciplined football. It starts with me.
On how it feels to start the season 0-2:
"Yeah, disappointing for sure; 0-2. First road game, you know, you want to start off on a great foot. But keeping the perspective, this is week two. We're going on to week three. We've got a great opportunity with the Browns next week and a great opportunity to right the ship in practice."
On what the defense's mindset was during the Commanders final drive:
"You know, it's on us. I feel like the offense did a great job and played a great game. I think [QB] Daniel Jones looked fantastic today. [WR Malik] Nabers looked great. We had all faith and confidence in the offense, special teams and [NY Giants Head Coach Brian Daboll]. We just had to go out there at the end and do our job, and we didn't get it done. It starts with me."
